Certain airborne contaminants pose serious human health risks. Hazardous airborne contaminants are found in tobacco smoke and in outgassing from common materials in the local environment, and are generated by natural processes such as combustion. Hazardous airborne contaminants are found in a number of settings regularly encountered by average people. A prominent example of hazardous airborne contaminants is nicotine and outgassing byproducts of cigarette smoke, such as formaldehyde. There is in fact no safe level of secondhand smoke exposure as it increases risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and childhood illnesses. These same contaminants constitute health risks even in the form of third-hand smoke, due to outgassing from materials exposed to cigarette smoke. Formaldehyde outgasses from widely used building materials including pressed wood and paint and household products such as cleaners and paper towels, and is a combustion by-product. Formaldehyde has been classified as a likely carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and workplace exposure is strictly regulated. It is further suspected to cause damage to reproductive systems and chronic exposure may lead to reduced immune response.
In the case of nicotine and other components in cigarette smoke, the prior art does not provide real-time monitoring solutions. While conventional technologies measure nicotine and particulate matter in indoor environments, such technologies involve large air sampling devices that actually impair immediate feedback, because complex laboratory procedures are required to quantify samples. Moreover, complex sampling techniques and instrumentation are required to obtain and measure adsorbed material affected by smoke.